Timeshare Trends Blog

TThree Disney executives with Disney Vacation Club were terminated because of fees charged to new timeshare owners of the Aulani Resort in Hawaii. The resort opened on August 29, but according to a recent Orlando Sentinel article, all timeshare sales for the resort have currently been suspended. The three fired executives include the President of the Florida based company, Senior Vice-President and CFO of Disney Cruise Line and travel operations, and Director of Finance for Disney Vacation Club. It appears that the vacation club executives had calculated dues amounts so low that that they would not generate enough money to cover the resort’s costs.

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Disney Vacation Club is imposing new restrictions on buyers who purchase their timeshares from existing owners rather than directly from Disney. Disney Vacation Club, which sells points that can be redeemed for stays in various accommodations, said it will no longer allow owners who acquire their points via resales to redeem them for nights in conventional hotel rooms at the company’s five theme park resorts worldwide, voyages aboard its cruise ships or vacations through its guided tour operation. Such owners will only be allowed to use their points only for stays in one of its eleven timeshare properties or in third party hotels available through exchange operator RCI.

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According to the Orlando Sentinel, the top business story in Orlando in 2010 was the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando, which opened in June. As the top business story, Harry Potter was Orlando’s economic salve boosting Universal’s attendance by 37 percent and it put heads in hotel beds for miles around, which had the added benefit of increasing local tourist tax collections by double-digit percentages. Harry Potter also gave Disney World some heartburn because its summer attendance remained flat and in some reports attendance was reported to be down by almost 6 percent. People flocked to town presumably under Harry’s spell.

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Starwood Vacation Ownership has expanded its Sheraton Vistana Villages, located on the south end of world-famous International Drive in Orlando. The current expansion phase includes 200 new villas, a new swimming pool complex, a new recreation building that will house a second fitness center, game room and arcade, as well as an activities desk with sports, pool games and equipment. The Sheraton Vistana Villages is the second Sheraton vacation ownership property located in Orlando. The first property is the Sheraton Vistana Resort, one of the Orlando’s largest timeshare properties.

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Wyndham Worldwide Corporation has recently renewed its financing for its Orlando based timeshare operations. According to a recent story in the Orlando Sentinel, Wyndham has stated that the securitized timeshare receivables conduit has a capacity of $600 million, and is renewed through September 2011. Timeshare companies typically use the receivables facilities to turn timeshare buyers mortgage into cash that the companies can use for further development.

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Universal Orlando’s profits are way up thanks to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Universal Orlando has just posted its best quarterly results in its entire 20-year history. Attendance at the resort has soared 36% in the recent third quarter when compared to the same quarter last year, climbing by over one-million visitors to 3.7 million. It is the highest quarterly attendance Universal has reported since Universal Studios opened in 1990 and the biggest percentage gain since its second park, Islands of Adventure debuted in 1999. Universal’s quarterly revenue has rocketed up 62% to $364 million fueled by ticket sales and enormous demand for Potter-themed merchandise. The popularity of the park allowed Universal to raise ticket and parking prices in the middle of the quarter.

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The first international timeshare sales office for Disney Vacation Club will open in Tokyo with a 15,000 square foot sales center at the Ikspiari shopping complex. Disney also plans to add timeshare sales kiosks throughout the Tokyo Disney Resort. Disney Vacation Club timeshare preview centers are already located in Long Island, NY, and in Chicago, Illinois. The new timeshare sales center for Disney Vacation Club will include a full-size model of one of the two-bedroom timeshare units planned for the Disney Vacation Club Villas, Ko Olina, Hawaii.

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FRAUD ALERT

WE HAVE BEEN ALERTED TO A NEW FRAUD BEING PERPETRATED ON OUR CUSTOMERS.

COMPANIES ARE CALLING OUR CUSTOMERS AND ADVISING THEM THAT THEY WORK WITH TIMESHARES BY OWNER® AND THAT THEY HAVE A BUYER. THEY FURTHER STATE YOUR LISTING PRICE, THAT THEY ARE A FINANCE COMPANY, AND THAT THE BUYER HAS ALREADY DEPOSITED 20% OF THE PURCHASE PRICE. THEY REQUIRE THE PAYMENT OF A FEE FOR CLOSING AND FINANCE CHARGES.

THIS IS A FRAUD THAT IS BEING CONDUCTED WITHOUT OUR AUTHORIZATION. WE DO NOT WORK WITH ANY OTHER COMPANY TO SELL YOUR TIMESHARE. IF THE COMMUNICATIONS DOES NOT COME FROM US, IT IS FRAUDULENT.

IF YOU RECEIVE THIS CALL, PLEASE CALL BECKY GOMEZ OF TIMESHARES BY OWNER® IMMEDIATELY TO REPORT IT AT 888-707-8463.

THANK YOU FROM THE STAFF OF TIMESHARES BY OWNER

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The Disney Doorway to Dreams is a new store now open in the Roosevelt Fields Shopping Center in New York. It is a new and convenient way to discover the excitement of the Disney Vacation Club. The Disney Doorway to Dreams showcases the spacious, family-friendly accommodations featured at the vacation club resorts.

Through the Disney Doorway to Dreams, clients may purchase Disney Vacation Club ownership for anyone of the Disney Resorts located at the Disney parks in Florida and California, as well as separate resorts in South Carolina, Florida and Hawaii. Disney Vacation Club ownership also allows you to utilize more than 500 vacation locations around the world. Also included is the Disney Cruise Line and family-friendly interactive adventures by Disney Trips.

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Disney Vacation Club has launched a new bonus strategy for its staff in a bid to boost the number of people that use its resorts. The timeshare club is adjusting its salary and bonus strategy to try to encourage members of its staff to help increase sales of Disney timeshare units.

Rena Langley, spokesperson for the Disney Vacation Club, explained that the pay structure among advance sales associates will enable them to provide more reward and recognition to top performers in the sales team. Disney timeshares have long been a popular option among European timeshare holders and new research shows that sales have been increasing among adults and couples without children.

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